Rafael Nadal storms past youngster Andrey Rublev in crushing victory to reach US Open semi-finals

The prospect of a Nadal-Federer semi-final showdown took one step closer to becoming a reality after the Spaniard beat his opponent 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday

Rafa Nadal celebrates after securing his place in the semi-finals (Getty)

Rafael Nadal completed his side of the bargain, now it falls down to Roger Federer. The prospect of a Nadal-Federer semi-final showdown has been the talk of the US Open ever since the draw was made here 12 days ago and the dream match-up was just one result away from reality after Nadal took his place in the last four on Wednesday by beating Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

With his sixth successive victory in a US Open quarter-final in the bag – Nadal’s only loss at this stage of the tournament was against Mikhail Youzhny in 2006 – the world No 1 had the luxury of knowing that he could watch in comfort in the evening as Federer took on Juan Martin del Potro in the concluding quarter-final in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pablo Carreno Busta and Sam Querrey, who will meet in the semi-final from the bottom half of the draw, won their quarter-finals on Tuesday.

For years Nadal was the young kid on the block, dashing the hopes of his seniors with a mixture of brilliance and exuberance. At 31 he is now one of the older generation under threat from the likes of 19-year-old Rublev, but proved that he has no indication of abdicating just yet.

“It was a good match,” Nadal said after reaching his 26th Grand Slam semi-final. “It was Andrey’s first quarter-final and he made more mistakes than usual. But for me it was an important victory. Winning my last two matches in straight sets has been great news for me. I’m just very happy to be in the semi-finals again here in New York. That’s something that means a lot to me.”

He added: “This year has been an emotional year. I think I’ve been playing very well in almost every tournament after so many years with problems in terms of injuries and sometimes not playing that well.

“You appreciate it a lot when you come back and you play a lot of matches in a row and you win them and you fight for important titles, especially later in your career. Probably six or seven years ago I never thought about that.”

Rublev is one of an exciting group of youngsters who are making their breakthrough into the top ranks. He has made spectacular progress this year, breaking into the world’s top 100 in June and the top 50 the following month after winning his first senior title in Croatia.

Nadal returns a shot during the second set (Getty)

After having to go through qualifying to reach the main draw earlier this year at the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon, Rublev was ranked high enough to go straight into the 128-strong field here. Having beaten Britain’s Aljaz Bedene in the first round, the No 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second, Damir Dzumhur in the third and the No 9 seed David Goffin in the fourth, the Russian faced a huge challenge in the quarter-finals.

Rublev was the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001 and was attempting to become the youngest semi-finalist here since Lleyton Hewitt in 2000 and the youngest at any Grand Slam event since Nadal at the French Open in 2005.

It was also the first meeting between a 30-something and a teenager this deep into a Grand Slam tournament since 31-year-old John McEnroe lost to 19-year-old Pete Sampras in the semi-finals here in 1990.

Nadal, however, is not generally one to falter in the face of youth. In his 14 previous meetings with teenagers at Grand Slam tournaments the Spaniard had lost only once, when he was beaten by Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon in 2014.


 Rublev was unable to threaten the Spaniard 
 (Getty)

Rublev was on the ropes from the start. Having dropped his serve to love in the opening game with a double fault, the Russian lost the first set in just 23 minutes. He fared slightly better in the second, but there was still little more than an hour on the clock as Nadal took the set in his stride.

After the Spaniard had raced into a 5-1 lead in the third set there was a loud and sympathetic cheer from the crowd when Rublev held his serve in the following game. Nadal netted a backhand on his first match point, but on the second it was Rublev’s turn to miss as the world No 1 completed his victory in just 97 minutes.

Nadal, who won the title here in 2010 and 2013, was asked what it had been like to face a player who had said that the Spaniard was his childhood idol. “It happened to me when I was 16, 17, 18 and I was on the tour playing against players who I had admired watching at home on TV,” Nadal said with a smile.

“That’s the negative part of being old. But at the same time it’s great to have a new generation come through. Andrey is one of this new generation of players who have a great future and I wish him all the very best.”